This guest post is by Briana Gipson, a young woman who was diagnosed with autism around age 8 and has been accepted into the RISE program at Judson University. Briana is applying for the Spring 2023 Making a Difference Autism Scholarship via the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference started by me, Kerry Magro. I was nonverbal till 2.5 and diagnosed with autism at 4, and you can read more about my organization here. Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams, our nonprofit’s new book, was released on March 29, 2022, on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults.
I was my mother’s first child. She told me stories that she didn’t really know for certain there was something wrong until after my sister was born. Even though you shouldn’t compare your children, she noticed vast differences in how quickly we each reached our milestones. For instance, although I was talking, she had a hard time understanding my words, unlike my one-year-old sister, speaking crisply. Also, she didn’t see me walk until I was a year and a half. When I was in kindergarten, she asked my teacher if she had noticed anything and was told I was normal. She moved us to a better school district when I was in second grade and they noticed the differences right away and immediately started giving me services. I was a difficult case because sometimes I would perform well and others it seemed like I would lose what I had learned. Therefore, the schools gave me different diagnoses over the years including ADD, intellectual disability and finally autism, which seemed to fit me the best. In any case, the services I received in school helped me learn how to compensate for my difficulties, so I am able to function okay as an adult.
Looking back on my life, it was a good life, but I struggled a lot with learning in school due to my disability. I feel that autism affected me by making it more difficult for me to relate to other people my age and to find friends. Growing up in a mostly-White community as a person of color was also challenging, especially since I had a disability. I have a hard time reading social cues, so if I did experience racism, it was hard for me to pick up on that. I did make some friends and they seemed to be nice, but no one ever asked me out on a date. Also, even though my teachers were nice, they didn’t really encourage me to work harder or do better in life. It’s like they just expected me to fail. Being in special education was also hard because some people outside of the school didn’t understand why I needed services since I look normal. I still face these same challenges. Those experiences make me want to do better now. That’s why I’m so happy to be able to have the opportunity for a college experience similar to my sister, who is graduating this year with a degree in business. Even though my program will just lead to a certificate, it will help me gain the confidence to do better and be more independent. This program will let me live in a dorm with a roommate, go to audit classes of my interest, and get work experience working with different companies in the area. It is exciting for me because I never thought I would ever have the opportunity to go to college. Ever since my mom found out I had a disability, she has gone easy on me and not pushed me academically. Also, it has been hard because other people my age have already graduated from college and some are married with kids. So, I have learned not to compare myself to others and to be proud of my own accomplishments. God doesn’t make any mistakes. What was meant to happen has happened, and I am happy with myself.
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My name is Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum. I started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue post-secondary education. Help support me so I can continue to help students with autism go to college by making a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit here.
Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams was released on March 29, 2022 on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults. 100% of the proceeds from this book will go back to our nonprofit to support initiatives like our autism scholarship program. In addition, this autistic adult’s essay you just read will be featured in a future volume of this book as we plan on making this into a series of books on autistic adults.
